Productivity is calculated by measuring footfall against rental rates. The Kerry town's High Street is home to some wellestablished retail brands including CH Chemists, Penneys, Hilsers Jewellers, Carraig Donn, Walsh Brother Shoes and Sasha.

Rated second in the Crest/CBRE survey, the first of its kind in Ireland, is Main Street in Wexford town (footfall: 2,787 per hour; average rent: Euro60 per sq ft).

The street was one of the first in the country to be pedestrianised and is very much the town's commercial heart.

Rated third is High Street, Kilkenny.

This street has witnessed some change in tenant mix in recent times which has contributed to it being a shopping destination.

The street benefits from 2,523 customers per hour at peak times and rents average out at Euro70 per sq ft.

Henry Street in Dublin, where rents average Euro360 per sq ft, rated fourth and enjoys 12,522 customers per hour at peak times. This is the second-highest volume of customers achieved by any street in Ireland.

Dublin's Grafton Street, while recording the highest volume of customer flow (14,300 per hour), rated a poor 15th due to high rental charges.

Some of the poorer performances in the survey came from streets in satellite towns around Dublin, suggesting that increases in population in these particular urban centres does not necessarily translate into increased shopper numbers.

According to David Fitzsimons, chief executive of Crest Ireland, "the findings are of interest to all retailers and landlords and provide an honest assessment of current high-street performance."

A spokesperson for CBRE commented: "The survey indicates that the pace of retail rental increases which has become increasingly topical in recent months has a big bearing on the productivity of particular streets, even where footfall is impressive."

Crest CBRE High Street productivity review conducted on Saturday 24 March 2007